RENESSE, Constantijn van

Dutch painter, draftsman, and etcher (also Constantijn Daniel à Renesse). He was the son of a minister, theologian and house chaplain to the stadholder of Friesland. He was a pupil of Rembrandt.

Some 85 drawings are attached to the name of Constantijn van Renesse, in various attributional certainty. They show the artist to have been a thinking man, with broader interests and greater self-reflection than most of his colleagues. As dedicated as he was to drawing, painting and printmaking, he was too well-born to be a professional artist and to submit to the authority of a craftsman's guildGLOSSARYAn association of the masters of a particular craft, trade or profession (painters, goldsmiths, surgeons, and so on) set up to protect its members' rights and interests. Such guilds existed in virtually every European city in the 16th century. The guild also monitored standards of work, acted as a court for those who brought their trade into disrepute, and provided assistance to members in need.. In 1653 he became town secretary of Eindhoven, a post he held for the rest of his life.